To wonder if there’s a need for basic home maintenance training

[butterybiscuitbasic]

Ok this is inspired by another thread, but there seems to be a basic lack of knowledge when it comes to basic home maintenance. Things like bleeding radiators, draining washing machines, preventing damp and the like.

I know when I moved into my first home it was my dad who showed me this type of stuff, so perhaps as we become more a nation of knowledge type workers these skills are being lost, or we are just more likely to assume problems and call someone in.

However I think it would be useful if these “skills” were perhaps covered in school, or even if letting agents/mortgage providers offered some sort of basic online training or manuals.

And mortgage lenders should want to protect their investment (and it is theirs until the mortgage is paid off).

They certainly don't own the property and it is not an investment which means that the owner still owes them the same amount of money whether or not it goes up or down in value! They can force the sale of the property so that they are paid back if the owner doesn't pay the mortgage but that doesn't mean they own it. The person with their name on the deeds is the owner.

When my parents bought their first home it was subject to them undertaking certain repairs by a certain date, so they do have w vested interest. Same reason they won’t lend on properties with structural issues etc.

They are only interested when originally lending to the extent that they don't want the property to be worth less than the mortgage.

look at how pissed off some tenants get when it's explicitly written in the lease and how they boast about ignoring all requirements from the landlord.

not much you can do with some people

My dh learned himself and ended up doing houses up, it's paid for our pension.
he has taught our dc and it's taken care of their pension and early retirement, to.
He just bought those old DIY books from charity shops, no internet when he learned.
Will tackle most things now, except rewiring and boilers and obviously get tradespeople in to do those. basic electric he will do though.
It can save you thousands over your lifetime.

Perhaps not worth it if you both work long hours and are prepared to pay for someone else to do it though.

Bit OTT. May just have needed topping up.

Bloody great chunk of flint embedded in the tread causing the slow puncture. She'd spotted it when she pulled over to see what was causing the TPMS warning.

There seems to be a few posters here who assume everyone is in a position to 'just pay a man' to do basic skills.
For many of us, this isn't an option. We only pay if we absolutely have to. We also aim to have a good idea of what's involved to better evaluate if quotes are reasonable.

Thankfully DH is a building surveyor who has a good notion of how buildings work. Which is great, because my parents never prepared me for how to take care of a 100+ year old terrace house. Some things, such as ventilation, is fairly obvious to me. But having to check the subfloor ventilation is a whole new ballgame when you grew up in a bungalow your parents built in the 70s!

Holy

I sometimes think people who CBA to learn how to do this stuff lose out in the end anyway.
They spend their money on maintenance whilst we do it ourselves in spare time, add value to our homes, sell them on for profit and retire early whilst they're still both working, still have mortgages at 40, and still paying others to do their basic maintenance.

Nobody is born able to do it, my fil couldn't change a light bulb, so my dh made his mind up he wasn't going to be as useless.
He took it a bit further though and learned how to renovate in his spare time, his friends went cycling and still have mortgages.

@DDIJ aren't you the poster who is saving up for an estate car to live in, outside your house? What on earth is wrong with the place that you are resorting to that? Do you live with your mum?

The mortgage company don’t need to protect their investment that way. As long as you repay them they couldn’t give a fig about the house. The sensibly check for major issues BEFORE lending but afterwards they take the risk. The risk is reduced by having you know, millions of houses as security in thier portfolio.

Also the damp thing is getting a bit ridiculous now. Many many people dry clothes in their home, particularly in the winter. With decent fan ventilation or lots of space/ windows open this is no issue.

It’s an issue particularly in flats, or over populated houses, because there are many people living in one structure. In this case the obvious thing is for the building owner (ie leaseholder) to put rules in the lease governing these matters.

What’s the point in teaching everyone how to live in a small, poorly ventilated flat, when the vast majority never will? This damp thing is getting ridiculous

They spend their money on maintenance whilst we do it ourselves in spare time, add value to our homes, sell them on for profit and retire early whilst they're still both working, still have mortgages at 40, and still paying others to do their basic maintenance.

blimey, I'd love to know what kind of mortgage you can pay off early because you know how to change a lightbulb or a lock yourself

With decent fan ventilation or lots of space/ windows open this is no issue.

yes captain obvious, but many people don't know or don't have the space and fans!

Did you read my reply captain lack of comprehension?

Passthecherrycoke
which is exactly what I commented upon, but someone is clearly missing my point...

No, I said many people can dry clothes on radiators or use heated driers in their homes without issue. There are repeated references in this thread about people needing to learn that they can not do these things.

Yes, most people can and do dry their clothes on the radiator or heated airer without damp being an issue. They may need to open a window but that involves one sentence, not a lesson on maintenance. Surely it is something children learn while growing up because their parents will dry clothes. Even if they don't it is something landlords can point out if they want to.

However I think it would be useful if these “skills” were perhaps covered in school,

How much more will be loaded onto schools to make up for poor family dynamics? Everything I learned about DIY I learned at home from watching, helping and so on. We're getting to the situation where schools will be expected to nanny people from conception to cremation.

My dad had a huge breeze-block size 'Readers Digest DIY Manual

Oh, we had that too in the early 70s, it also gave you instructions about buiding furniture, we made our bed, slatted base long before they were common! Feeling quite nostalgic now.

Myself and Mr Grumpy are very good at DIY, probably because we used to do it with our dads a lot, and dh used to work with his brother who was a builder. I was laying laminate flooring at 13 and skirting boards at 14.

Not many tasks escape us 🤷‍♀️ Only things we don’t really touch are electrics (eg mains) and gas (never ever touch with gas)

Everything else we can do - if not google or YouTube help.

We also do most work on the cars as well (brake pads, minor services (can’t do the major ones) filter, oil changes)

Our current house is a bloody nightmare we are finding years and years of bad diy 😖 and damp I’ve never seen such bad damp in a house! The mould is everywhere - I’m currently using an industrial (rented) dehumidifier to dry out the kids rooms so I can tackle it, I’ve also checked the roof to make sure it’s not from a leak, I’ve also cleared out the guttering on the whole place and replaced a section which was so badly damaged.

We must have saved ourselves a fortune in trade people of the years.

I don’t however feel it should be taught in schools.